Health inspectors find pests in Palatka soul-food restaurant, Lake City BBQ joint

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – We're making our weekly rounds and checking in with health inspectors to see which restaurants around town could make you lose your appetite.

Restaurant owners in Duval, St. County, Nassau, and Clay Counties, give yourselves a pat on the back! According to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, there were no emergency closures this week issued in the counties listed above.

For the problem spots, inspectors visited Columbia and Putnam Counties where two restaurants were cited for major violations.

In Palatka, the staff at Toni's Soulfood Bistro on Crill Avenue worked hard to get their business back open. The inspector cited the bistro for 10 live roaches on the wall and floor under the prep sink. Three dead roaches were also found in the kitchen. 

Employees swept away the pests and got back to business the next day -serving up what some on Facebook call the best food in town.

Ken's BBQ East on State Road 100 in Lake City got the order to close briefly last week. According to the inspector, more than 160 rodent droppings were vacuumed, swept and mopped up from the kitchen and restaurant. The cleaning process began while the inspector was there and took a few hours.

Ken's Barbecue passed their follow up inspection that same day.